New evidence has emerged which casts doubt over the Lockerbie bombing conviction, a national newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Mirror claims that the device which blew up Pan Am flight 103 over the small Scottish town may not have been loaded at Frankfurt, an assertion made by the prosecution team.

Its theory stems from an interview with Heathrow Airport security guard Ray Manly who said he told police that Pan Am's baggage area was broken into on 21 December, 1988, some 17 hours before the plane set off for New York.

The Daily Mirror claims the new information casts doubt on the conviction

Mr Manly was interviewed by anti-terrorist officers a month after the tragedy, but his evidence was "lost" and never used in court.

During the trial in the Netherlands it was claimed by the prosecution that accused Libyan Abdelbaset Al Megrahi placed the bomb on a flight from Malta to Frankfurt, where it was then "interlined" on to a flight to Heathrow before being loaded on to Flight 103.

In February this year, Al Megrahi was convicted of mass murder and jailed for a minimum of 20 years.